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LouisianaVoice Fall Fundraiser at halfway point; please help

October 16, 2019 by tomaswell

We’re halfway through our Fall Fundraiser at LouisianaVoice and we need your support.

As much as I detest doing this, it’s become a necessity to paying the bills that keep stories that no one else is reporting coming to you.

I humbly ask that you take the advice of a critic of this service who, in disagreeing with one of our recent posts, instructed readers to “send the fool money” because he apparently found some of our posts amusing and wanted to see them continue.

I realize he was being sarcastic, but he is correct in his assessment that we need your help to keep up our research, paying for documents, gasoline, etc.

Our readers have always been more than generous in responding to our appeals for contributions and I want you to know they are sincerely appreciated.

Remember these two things: We are now a 501 (c)(3) non-profit as per the IRS, so your contributions are now fully tax deductible and all contributors of $100 or more will receive a free, signed copy of my latest book, Louisiana’s Rogue Sheriffs: A Culture of Corruption.

To contribute by credit card, simply click on the yellow oval button in the column to the right of his post. The button looks like this:

Donate Button with Credit Cards

But you can’t do it on this button; you must use the one in the right-hand column.

If you prefer to pay by check, please send contributions to:

LouisianaVoice

P.O. Box 922

Denham Springs, Louisiana 70727

And as always, thanks so much.

Posted in Politics | Leave a Comment »

Mike Edmonson refuses to ride off into the sunset; reports have him as head of New Orleans French Quarter security

October 16, 2019 by tomaswell

Mike Edmonson, a veteran of 35 years with Louisiana State Police (LSP) and nine years as the state’s top cop, is reported to have been named Program Administrator for Police Patrol by the New Orleans French Quarter Management District (FQMD).

LouisianaVoice received an unconfirmed report on Tuesday that Edmonson, who retired at $128,559 per year after being forced out in March 2017, had been named to the post, advertised by the FQMD earlier this year.

An LSP spokesman said he had heard similar reports but could not confirm them.

Prior to making that request, LouisianaVoice attempted to obtain verbal confirmation from the New Orleans municipal offices but it took six calls to various offices before anyone even answered the phone.

Efforts to confirm the appointment and the salary of the position with the New Orleans mayor’s office by email met with referrals of all public records requests to an outfit called NextRequest.

NextRequest, headquartered in San Francisco, serves as a clearing house for public records requests for governmental agencies, schools, special districts, etc.

Apparently governmental agencies’ rush to privatize services now extends to responding to and complying with public records requests.

Edmonson retired from LSP in March 2017 following a San Diego conference attended by several LSP officials, including four troopers who made the trip in a state vehicle and who took a side trip to Las Vegas and the Grand Canyon in 2016.

The investigation of that trip resulted in two of the most convoluted, confusing and controversial—and conflicting—findings by the State Board of Ethics. In April 2018, the ethics board cleared—in secret—the four troopers of any wrongdoing, concluding that they were simply following orders from higher-ups and had taken the vehicle and the side trip with the approval of Edmonson.

Sixteen months later, in August of this year, that same board CLEARED EDMONSON of any wrongdoing for that same trip. Edmonson, it should be noted, was represented before the board by Baton Rouge attorney Gray Sexton who once headed the ethics board.

Sexton said at the time that other agencies investigating Edmonson were dropping their investigations, as well. It’s unclear whether or not the FBI has actually dropped its investigation of Edmonson, who was harshly criticized for his management practices in an audit by the Legislative Auditor’s office.

If reports of Edmonson’s hiring are true, he would find himself working in a familiar—and friendly—atmosphere, given his ties to Robert Watters, owner of RICK’S CABARET.

Edmonson was instrumental in negotiating a cooperative endeavor agreement (CEA) whereby LSP would provide patrol duties in the French Quarter to augment New Orleans police.

In 2015, French Quarter residents approved a special quarter-cent sales tax increase in the district to pay for a PERMANENT LSP PRESENCE. Thirty-two troopers from Troop N were assigned permanently to the Quarter.

When proceeds from the sales tax proved insufficient, the Louisiana Legislature appropriated an additional $2.4 million to cover the shortfall.

In December 2018, a STATE AUDIT said LSP had not provided proof that $2.4 million in state funds set aside for policing the Quarter was actually spent there, a finding with which LSP disagreed.

If Edmonson has indeed been appointed program manager for the district, he will undoubtedly have interactions with his old agency that he left under a cloud two-and-one-half years ago.

 

Posted in Audit Reports, Boards, Contracts, Corruption, Crime, Ethics, Legislature, Public Records, State Police | 5 Comments »

Cheating scandal reported at LSP Academy; reports indicate copies of P.O.S.T. test were made available to favored cadets

October 15, 2019 by tomaswell

Louisiana State Police (LSP), only two-and-one-half years removed from one of its darkest chapters, may be facing yet another serious problem perpetrated from within the State Police Training Academy.

LSP Public Information Officer Major Doug Cain on Tuesday confirmed that two cadets had been removed, or separated, from the current class currently undergoing training at the academy for cheating.

Cain said the two were involved in cheating on a test, but the problem may actually go much deeper than just two cadets cheating on an exam, LouisianaVoice has learned.

LouisianaVoice has received reports that a key test may have been made available to certain cadets via an online drop box. An internal investigation will likely take place with disciplinary action to follow if the allegations are borne out.

Independent sources have reported to LouisianaVoice that the test in question is the Police Officers Standards and Training (P.O.S.T.) test which all police officers at local, parish and state levels must pass in order to become certified as law enforcement officers.

That test is separate from the weekly exams given cadets, the source said.

The source said that “captains, instructors, cadets—all of the above—were involved in providing copies of the P.O.S.T. test to select cadets whom they favored.

If correct, that would rise to the level of a major scandal for LSP Superintendent Colonel Kevin Reeves, who succeeded Mike Edmonson, who was forced into retirement following a series of negative stories culminating in an unauthorized trip to San Diego by four troopers in a state vehicle.

In my research for an anticipated book tentatively entitled America’s Rogue Sheriffs: A Culture of Corruption (a sequel to Louisiana’s Rogue Sheriffs: A Culture of Corruption), it was found that sheriffs’ deputies in several other states were fired for obtaining copies of tests but this would be the first known such case involving law enforcement in Louisiana.

It was not immediately known how many cadets might be involved in the alleged P.O.S.T. cheating scandal, nor how many, if any, instructors may be implicated.

The academy was recently rocked with another TRAINING INCIDENT when at least 10 cadets were injured, some with broken bones, as part of hazing punishment when one cadet was found to be in possession of a cellphone. Defensive Tactics (DT) training has subsequently been suspended at the academy as a result of the injuries.

LouisianaVoice will follow up on details as they are learned.

 

Posted in Corruption, Ethics, Fraud, State Police | 12 Comments »

LouisianaVoice Fall Fundraiser in second week: please help

October 14, 2019 by tomaswell

Your contribution to the work of LouisianaVoice is now fully tax-deductible.

LouisianaVoice, is presently conducting its Fall Fundraiser and for the first time, we’re doing it is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, which means you may claim your contribution as a tax deduction.

That’s important to you and of course, it’s important to us. We have worked for nine years now to keep you updated on federal, state and local political events. From the ongoing battle between Donald Trump and his Democratic opponents down to a local police department in a small Southwest Louisiana town, we bring you stories no one else will.

We were the first to reveal the underhanded effort to illegally pad former State Police Superintendent Mike Edmonson’s retirement by tens of thousands of dollars.

We were the first to tell of the abuses of sheriffs in Terrebonne, DeSoto, and Iberia parishes, revelations that eventually led to the publication of my third book, Louisiana’s Rogue Sheriffs: A Culture of Corruption.

We were the first to reveal the strategy of SLAPP (Strategic Litigation Against Public Participation) when the Welsh mayor and police chief sued a town councilman over the council member’s request for public records.

We were the first to relate an intricate plan to sell off water rights on Toledo Bend Lake to interests in Texas.

We were the only Louisiana medium to report on an attempt by a Louisiana Department of Education official to team with Bush family members in Florida to corner the rights to potable water in that state.

We were the only medium anywhere to correctly predict that former Alcohol and Tobacco Control Office Director Murphy Painter was being set up by the Jindal administration which, after unsuccessful attempts to gain criminal convictions, ended up having to pay nearly half-a-million dollars in legal fees for Painter.

We illustrated the pay to play scheme of the Jindal administration whereby major campaign contributors were rewarded with seats on powerful boards and commissions.

We wrote a dozen or so stories about the State Board of Dentistry and its abuse of practicing dentists who were targeted by rival dentists and prosecuted by a cooperative board.

We traced the influence of lobbyists and political action committees, particularly the oil and gas industry’s purchase of legislators who killed legal efforts to force the companies to pay for damage inflicted on Louisiana’s deteriorating coastline and marshes.

Those are just a few of the stories LouisianaVoice has originated at this site. We don’t charge a subscription fee (against the advice of political experts) and the only advertising we accept is for Cavalier House Books in Denham Springs because the owner created our website free of charge (his ad is free, as well).

The only financial support LouisianaVoice receives is through the generosity of our readers.

Accordingly, I humbly and gratefully ask for your continued support. To contribute by credit card, just click on the yellow oval DONATE in the column to the upper right of this post. It looks like this:

Donate Button with Credit Cards

But this one won’t work; you have to go to the button to the upper right to make it work.

If you prefer, you may send checks to:

LouisianaVoice

P.O. Box 922

Denham Springs, Louisiana 70727

As an added incentive, anyone contributing $100 or more will receive a free signed copy of Louisiana’s Rogue Sheriffs: A Culture of Corruption.

And remember, your gift if tax-deductible.

As always, thanks for your support of independent journalism.

Tom Aswell

 

Posted in Politics | Leave a Comment »

Video depicting Trump slaughtering opponents is repugnant, vile, despicable and sadly reflective of our political cesspool

October 14, 2019 by tomaswell

We have truly descended into the nadir of third-world status.

The video that depicted Donald Trump shooting, stabbing and clubbing Democrats, the late John McCain, and members of the media inside a church is at once incredibly disturbing, warped and dangerous.

The fact that (a) it was shown at the conservative American Priority Festival and Conference at which Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Donald Trump, Jr., were scheduled to appear, (b) Trump has yet to condemn the video and in fact, (c) the creator of MemeWorld, the website for which the video was produced, was an Oval Office guest in July when Trump referred to him as a “genius” only serves to underscore the ominously repulsive nature of the video.

Even worse, it shows that Trump and his supporters have thrown all restraint and socially-acceptable norms out the window. But then, they did that that long ago—like the day he rode down that escalator at Trump Tower in 2015.

Worse yet, this will no doubt serve as inspiration for some nut job to take it upon himself to act out his own fantasies and when some reporter or political enemy is killed, Trump and his supporters will, by their tacit approval of the video, demonstrated by their deafening silence, have blood on their hands.

Don’t think that will happen? Well, let’s rewind the tape to 2017 when Herr Trump tweeted that video of him taking down a CNN REPORTER in a WrestleMania event. A year later, 13 pipe bombs were mailed to CNN, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, former CIA Director John Brennan, actor Robert DeNiro, and others perceived as opponents of Trump. CESAR SAYOC was subsequently sentenced to prison for those mailings.

The showing of that video is one of those things that makes me want to look the perpetrator in the eye and ask, “What were you thinking?” It showed about as much forethought as the guy I read about who tried to rob a bank at a drive-up window (bullet-proof glass, by the way). The teller, upon reading the note from the would-be robber, flipped it over and wrote, “I don’t see a gun.” The man obligingly placed his gun in the drawer and sent it in to the teller—action that can only attributed to gross stupidity.

The White House has attempted to distance itself from the video but we’ve heard nothing from Trump himself. Nil. Nada. Zilch.

Of course, he will be interjecting himself into our general election for governor, stumping for the Republican candidate over Democrat Governor John Bel Edwards. On that we can rest assured. One businessman with six bankruptcies and several loan defaults on his record campaigning for another businessman. Perfect.

Trump’s devout supporters will no doubt come to his defense as they always do. But now they will be defending the indefensible. They will say the video won’t incite violence, but because it’s impossible to prove a negative, only time will tell.

But even if it doesn’t, the question remains: why in the world was that video ever shown—or even produced—in the first place? What message was it trying to convey? It certainly wasn’t the Christian Values the evangelicals seem to have bestowed upon this president. It couldn’t be a message on behalf of free market capitalism. Nor could it serve as a message endorsing border security. Or peace. Or trade wars. Or the virtues of being an American patriot.

And it certainly couldn’t have been a message to show Trump’s courage.

He is, after all, the one who got five medical deferrals for bone spurs that kept him out of the military during the Vietnam War.

 

Posted in Cartoons, Corruption, Ethics, Politicians | 8 Comments »

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